Gift for Peace
by Wanderer P
Summary: All Solid Snake wanted was peace to himself, free from brawls. However, a day's visit from his support crew prevents him from doing so. Just to placate Mei Ling, who desires to spend time with him, Snake offhandedly gifts her Pikachu. Unfortunately, Pikachu is needed for a Special Brawl and it's just not the same without him. Minor Snake/DavidxMei Ling fluff
1. Chapter 1

It was a peaceful day at the Brawl Mansion, seasoned home for the famous brawlers from different worlds placed a sufficient distance away from the cliff that overlooked a boundless ocean where the once grand Isle of the Ancients floated before its untimely demise by Subspace. Now, that vast location is where the brawlers host their special Final Destination matches. Anyway, the Brawl Mansion, which was loosely modeled after Luigi's grade A mansion from his first great solo and spooky adventure, _Luigi's Mansion_, stood there as the hub for the smashers/fighters/brawlers for two main purposes: to fight and coexist together.

Anyway, this day isn't peaceful just because there was no apocalyptic Subspace threat like Tabuu rearing its ugly head over the world of Super Smash Brothers, occasionally referred to as the World of Trophies. The worse that the brawlers face upon death and defeat in battle was simply being turned into a realistic, life-sized trophy and can be revived upon a meaningful touch on the trophy base by a fellow ally. That was the unique laws of physics that exist in this world. It's a wonder that all the characters had difficulty resuming their normal lives upon returning to their own worlds, but that is a tale for another day…

Out in the side courtyard of the Mansion rested a mature, gruff soldier named David, known generally to everyone as Solid Snake, underneath a sturdy old tree. Still young and quite dashing as this period of time had existed on its own dimension, the legendary soldier did not show signs of drastic aging as a result of his designed genetics. So to say, he had been hanging around with the other brawlers for quite a while now. But… before he would go on to his final adventure and eventual fate, he was simply relaxing under a tree and strangely without a cigarette in his mouth.

Today was Thursday, and for some reason it was a unanimous decision by all brawlers that there would be only one Special Brawl to take place at the evening in contrast to the rest of the week where multiple brawls would take place throughout the day except Sunday, where fellow brawlers could wager Smash Coins earned from Brawl matches for fun on a chosen participant. It was an interesting concept and it certainly took time for the idea to develop, ironically originally proposed by Wario in an attempt to get more coins for himself. Tonight's match was a free-for-all, invisibility-cloaked, five-stock battle between Donkey Kong, Pikachu, and two more brawlers to be selected at random.

Snake didn't care. As much as he had gained a lot of thrill from violence, the transition to peace was one he was willing to accept, especially when this rule was established. He wasn't selected to fight for today, so why else would he stick around? He normally kept to himself despite having friendly to neutral views toward the majority of his fellow brawlers, viewing himself distant and way different from everyone else. Considering what he's been through, who else in this realm would be able to relate to him and the horrors he has seen in war?

Snake glanced at the clouds floating freely in the fresh blue sky. The scene eased him, hence the reason why he didn't feeling like pulling his trusty cardboard box over him that time. He aimed to fall asleep for a nap after lunch a while ago, and he was about to. Unfortunately, one circumstance that would lead to another would prevent him his peace.

_*Bonk*_

"Ow! What the!" Snake growled, suddenly tensing up as something had hit him on top of his head. He made a few glances around before noticing the culprit lying next to him. "… An apple?"

Before he could continue musing on why an apple attempted to assassinate his head, a loud cry resounded in his ears and another object, bigger than the apple, landed on top of his head. Acting on swift reflexes, Snake had thrown the apple aside and grabbed the second thing that landed on him.

It turned out to be Pikachu.

"You!" Snake glared at the sheepish Mouse Pokémon, holding him by the tail upside-down. "You think you can pull a fast one on me?"

"Pika Pika, Pikachu!" Pikachu cried, vigorously shaking his head no. Snake grumbled silently to himself.

"Well, I'll give you an A for effort for being able to catch me on surprise like that, especially that I chose this moment to go on without a box," Snake said. Pikachu visibly relaxed. "But…" Pikachu stiffened back. "Make another attempt on my life like that again and I'll be selling your furry little pelt to the black market. Got it?" Pikachu, acting out of fear, nodded robotically.

"Snaaaaake!"

A different loud cry was heard by both Snake and Pikachu. It was somewhat familiar to Snake. It also sounded feminine, really feminine. It came a few meters from behind the soldier. Snake peered back to see someone he did not believe would be here at this time.

"… Mei Ling?"

The young and cute Asian woman from Snake's support crew who worked as the visual and data processing specialist ran up to them with a gleeful waving hand. Upon reaching him, she gave him a big hug while Snake was able to reciprocate it with one arm as he still had Pikachu held up by the tail in his other hand.

"Hi, Snake. I bet that you forgot what today was with all the excitement going around here, not that I blame you."

"What are you talking about?" Snake asked. Mei Ling merely giggled in response.

"Don't you ever pay attention to your own rules while staying here?" Mei Ling responded. "Thursday is when you guys are able to have visitors from your home worlds for the day and vice versa. You guys even have one Thursday out of the month to be able to visit other worlds outside your own as well."

"Oh, right…"

"Like if you wanted to visit Mario's world and explore the colorful Mushroom Kingdom or soar through the Lylat System where the Star Fox and Star Wolf mercenary teams reside in, you could do that for that particular Thursday."

"Gee, thanks for helping my memory regain that temporary lapse on that detail," Snake commented. Mei Ling gave a weak, but playful backhand on his arm.

"Sarcasm shouldn't become you this day when dear friends come your way," Mei Ling said. Snake grinned back.

"Do I smell a Chinese proverb coming up?"

"You know, I—Hey, a Pikachu!"

"Hm?"

Caught off guard by the sudden comment, Snake realized that he was still holding onto Pikachu by the tail. The Mouse Pokémon seemed groggy from hanging upside-down for a handful of minutes. The blood apparently was rushing into his head as the color of his face nearly matched his red cheeks.

"Snake, did you capture this cute little guy for lil' ol' me?" Mei Ling inquired sweetly, leaning forward into a classic girly pose. Snake had to admit that her cute appeal skyrocketed in his eyes, but said nothing else in response. Feeling a bit of heat surface into his head as she leaned in closer, he instinctively brought Pikachu in his hands and held the Mouse Pokémon right in front of her.

"He's all yours," Snake replied, looking away as casually as he could. He could certainly hear Mei Ling's joyful squeals as she swept Pikachu into her arms.

"Ohhh! Thank you, Snake!" She twirled around cheerfully with the still dazed Pikachu in her arms and pressed against her chest before coming to a very close stop next to Snake and planted a quick kiss on his face, much to the soldier's sheepish embarrassment.

"Uh, yeah…You're welcome," Snake mumbled, unconsciously placing a hand over the spot on his face where the cute Chinese woman's lips touched him and smiled to himself. Mei Ling continued to giggle and squeal like a high school girl as Pikachu slowly regained consciousness from being held upside-down.

"Pi… Pika?" Pikachu yawned, stirring and wondering where he was now. He felt bound once more, but was right-side up this time. Something soft was pressed against his back. The air around him smelt slightly of flowery perfume. And now, he felt someone nuzzling her chin on top of his head, much to his surprise.

"Hey, cutie," Mei Ling whispered to the Mouse Pokémon as she continued snuggling with him. "You finally awake?" Snake smirked to himself over the affectionate display. He knew that she would tend to be silly at times with her obsession over literature, but this was certainly over the top even for him to recognize.

"I think you ought to ease up on the little guy," Snake said. "He's probably trying to get air or something." Mei Ling then held Pikachu at arm's length, inspecting him.

"Well, it doesn't look like he has trouble breathing. I hope you didn't try snapping his neck when catching him for me."

"… Ah…"

"By the way, how did you manage to capture Pikachu anyway? Did you acquire a Poké Ball?"

"Er, no. What do you think I look like, a Pokémon Trainer?"

"It's fun bringing up old conversations like this," Mei Ling commented, giggling over Snake's previous comment. "It's not like we go about dealing with Pokémon, so we have no use in creating Poké Balls. Besides…" She brought Pikachu closer to her once more into a hug. "It's our duty to keep the world and these adorable creatures safe from Metal Gear."

"Right…" Snake looked away for a moment before a new thought came to mind. "Hey, Mei Ling. Did you come to the Brawl Mansion alone?"

"Of course not," Mei Ling replied, softly scratching below Pikachu's face. The Mouse Pokémon noticeably relaxed under her touch. She apparently found his soft spot. "We wanted to come surprise you one of these days and meet the other Brawl characters live and in person. The Colonel seemed anxious to meet the Mario Bros. And Dr. Emmerich wanted to learn more about the technological systems the Mansion seems to be using for simulating those fights in addition to meeting the other brawlers."

"It sounds like them alright, though I'm actually confused on why the Colonel would want to meet with Luigi. Last time I contacted him during a brawl against him, he ridiculed and disrespected the poor guy with no mercy."

"Snake, when's the last time you've saved your memory?" Mei Ling remarked, smirking playfully. "Colonel Al broke in that time and messed with you when you called about Luigi." Snake mentally smacked himself in the forehead because doing so physically would further make him appear as a fool.

"Tch, all in the past," Snake grumbled. "And what do you plan on doing while visiting aside from ribbing on me in person?" Mei Ling smiled innocently.

"Well, aside from meeting some brawlers myself, especially Pikachu," she held up and hugged the comfortable Mouse Pokémon for emphasis, "I was hoping to spend some more time with you."

"Really…" Snake didn't state it as a question, but was rather perplexed by her answer.

"I know you and Dr. Emmerich have a brotherly bond with one another and you and Colonel Campbell go way back, but it's time I got to spend an afternoon with the legendary soldier himself," Mei Ling explained, giving a wink that could be subtly interpreted as an attempt at flirting with him.

"Hmm, I did say that we should get to know each other a bit more since meeting over Codec. You guys certainly caught me off guard with your little surprise visit. There goes my afternoon nap."

"Don't be so negative about it. At least you have me to be around with. Would you mind giving me a tour around the Brawl Mansion?"

"If you want a tour, have Pikachu lead you around. He knows the place as well as I. And besides, he's yours now."

"Wait, seriously you're going to brush me off like that?" Mei Ling had an exasperated look, but Snake could tell that she was attempting to hide her disappointment.

"I, uh, was actually referring to you owning Pikachu."

"Oh, that's okay then, but are you really not going to lead me around?"

"You're a big girl now. You don't need me to hold your hand through it."

"I wasn't thinking of holding your hand, not in that context at least," Mei Ling muttered. She was beginning to lose patience with all her convincing of the soldier to spend time with her. She came to learn how to deal with Snake's stubbornness so she did the only thing logical to solve her problem. With a free hand and reluctant sigh, she grabbed Snake by the ear before he could retreat back to his resting spot under the tree.

"What the!"

"Come on, Lazy Snake, we don't have all day. Let's go meet everyone!"

"Help, someone! I'm being abducted!" Snake cried out rather comically, flailing his limbs about as an attempt at struggling. Mei Ling merely smiled as she held a firm grip on his ear and tugged him along to the Mansion. And Pikachu was still there held by her other arm. "Someone! Anyone! Liquid! Help! Nooooo!"

* * *

Later that afternoon to evening…

Snake wondered how he managed to survive a whole afternoon in introducing Mei Ling to the multifaceted characters residing in the Brawl Mansion. The Chinese woman certainly loved to socialize and loved to share Chinese proverbs and other sources of wisdom with others to help them even more. The majority of characters they met, including Peach, Mario, Luigi, Zelda, Link, Fox, Popo and Nana, Pit, Olimar, Samus, Marth, Ike, R.O.B., Lucario, and even the lone Meta Knight, came to like her and her intellectual personality a lot. However, a few of them did question why Mei Ling held onto Pikachu the whole time, more specifically by Lucario and Pokémon Trainer Red. When asked, Mei Ling simply replied that Pikachu belonged to her now as a gift from Snake, followed with a quick hug on the Mouse Pokémon. No further argument from either side ensued. The soldier rolled his eyes every time.

A few others, mainly Falco, Wario, King Dedede, Wolf, and Sonic, quipped either openly or in secret, for harmless fun or vengeful malice, about Snake and Mei Ling being a couple, much to Snake's annoyance and Mei Ling's blushing embarrassment.

And the rest of the brawlers did their own thing and paid no mind to the passing trio, such as Kirby and Yoshi typically trying to sneak out food from the kitchen before dinner began, Ness, Lucas, and Toon Link playing their own boy games, Bowser strangely baking his own cupcakes with his flame breath, Ganondorf polishing the white Sword of the Sages he stole after being impaled by it, Captain Falcon working out solo in the Brawl Training Center, an enraged pair of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong chasing Jigglypuff outside for drawing on their faces with a marker for falling asleep during another attempted concert by her, and Mr. Game & Watch simply being there and himself.

Colonel Roy Campbell and Dr. Hal Emmerich, aka Otacon, already went through the Mansion, met various brawlers, and spent the rest of their time with Master Hand and Crazy Hand before dinner time discussing politics. Coincidentally, the only other visitor aside from Snake's support crew hanging out with Master Hand and Crazy Hand was Slippy Toad of the Star Fox team, called in by Falco for personal technical assistance. The Colonel and Otacon immediately recognized him as the outsider that managed to tap into the Codec frequency Snake used during Brawl battles, specifically the call for Falco Lombardi.

Dinner went by like a breeze. It was as normal as it could get with all these characters. And by normal, things tend to get chaotic halfway through dinner with someone at least instigating a fight with another over trivial matters and eventually using the food on their plates as weapons. However, food fights happened on rare occasions when emotions are truly flying high in a fevered pitch. Fortunately for this day, mostly everyone was stable and really hungry, more focused on the food than quarreling with others.

"Everyone, may I have your attention please?" Master Hand called out in a booming voice. Everyone had dropped their utensils and drinks to look up to the giant disembodied right hand. "Excellent. Now then, for reminders, we have an hour from now to clean up and prepare for the Special Brawl. Also, visitor hours are now over for this week, so may I kindly ask our dear visitors to vacate the Mansion as quickly as possible so that we may get on with business?"

"Yes, sir!" Everyone exclaimed in unison.

"Very well. Have at it!"

Master Hand and Crazy Hand got together and clapped twice loudly, signaling the time of dispersion. Everyone left at his or her own pace. The plates and leftover food were automatically taken cared of thanks to the Brawl Mansion's magical/technological combination system.

Outside by the side courtyard, Snake and Mei Ling stood at the same place where they first met up earlier in the day. Pikachu was still in her arms. He had no reason to not be in them and felt perfectly content in being in them.

"Snake, today was such a wonderful day off," Mei Ling began, smiling brightly at the soldier. "I'm really thankful that the Colonel allowed us to come here."

"Once you have the taste of paradise, you'd never want to leave it," Snake remarked.

"You're _so_ lucky to have been invited to stay here after that Subspace incident. As much as I'd love to be here, I'm certainly no fighter. I have to hand it to the others girls that they were able to survive and fight on their own like that."

"When it comes down to the battlefield, the one with the strongest will and most cunning mind will survive. All other factors, male or female, young or old, don't matter."

"Yeah, sounds about right," Mei Ling said, looking down upon Pikachu in her arms, who appeared to now have dozed off. "Are you sure you guys won't mind me having Pikachu?"

"Don't worry about that since you said you've wanted one and bugged me about it every time it came up in conversation," Snake replied bluntly with a shrug. "Besides, worse comes to worse, we can just ask Pokémon Trainer Red to find a new Pikachu from Kanto to replace this one." Mei Ling giggled briefly.

"You're just miffed that this one actually defeated you in a brawl a while ago."

"_Hmph, more like attempted to assassinate me earlier today,_" Snake muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. You'd better get to that Dimension Traveler Master Hand has given you guys soon. I'm sure Colonel and Otacon are getting impatient waiting for you."

"You're not going to say good-bye to them?"

"I met up with them before coming up here with you. They've enjoyed their time here, but you know them. Duty calls."

"I guess you're right. At least let me leave you with this proverb to consider for future brawls and battles. 'Not only can water float a boat, it can sink it also.' You need to be careful of your resources in battle. From your weapons to nature itself, they can aid you in battle, but can just as easily turn against you if you become careless or if they fall into your opponents' hands."

"The knife cuts both ways, I get it," Snake surmised. Mei Ling smiled and came close to him, giving him a hug with one free arm as she used the other to keep Pikachu safe. Although hesitant at first from the sudden gesture, Snake slowly returned the hug.

"I'll be rooting for you all the way, Snake," Mei Ling said, slowly walking away. "And Snake?"

"What?"

"I can't express the amount of gratitude I have for you now," Mei Ling said, looking down rather shyly at her feet. "You were willing to spend the afternoon with me despite prior minor obligations and you even got me Pikachu!"

"Yeah, yeah, though you can't say I was wholeheartedly 'willing' in the first place," Snake grumbled.

"Still, it meant a lot to me that you cared. You've really come out of that cold, hard snake skin of yours since we first talked over Codec. I'm really glad for that change. You know… I really do like you a lot, Snake."

Snake felt heat resurfacing into his face once more, attempting to dismiss it by looking into the distance and not allowing Mei Ling a full look. Out of his stubborn belief in being a stoic warrior of the battlefield, he did not want any form of emotion to show to anyone, even to those he would consider as his closest friends. He had already lost a few comrades, as well as experienced the sharp pangs of betrayal by those he once considered the closest. As for his current case with Mei Ling, he was completely shrouded in a mist of doubt, but there was always that ray of light somehow managing to spark through, the ray that was her cute innocence and brilliant wisdom.

"Well then, I'm glad that you're glad," Snake replied as tactfully as he could without causing any possibility of stopping Mei Ling's cheerfulness at the moment. In truth, he really felt happy that she was happy. "You and Pikachu should get going soon." He was caught off guard once more when Mei Ling took another chance at a quick hug before running off.

"Thank you again, Snake!" Mei Ling called back. Snake watched her run off before heading inside of the Brawl Mansion to check out the Special Brawl for tonight.

* * *

"Everyone, thank you for joining in to watch tonight's Special Brawl!" Master Hand announced. He and the brawlers had gathered into the giant heart of the mansion, which held a grand plasma monitor screen at the top with four distinct teleportation pods below it. "This exciting match will have your Smash Coins on the line as four brawlers selected from last week will be fighting a five-stock battle with the additional condition of clear body, aka invisibility."

"This should be exciting," Falco commented. "Who are going to be the two random guys that fight alongside Donkey Kong and Pikachu?" A mental alarm suddenly went off in Snake's head.

_Wait a minute… Pikachu's fighting tonight?!_ Snake thought urgently. It occurred to him that he mindlessly gave Pikachu away to Mei Ling, and knowing her, she won't be willing to give up the Mouse Pokémon any time soon once the fact settled into her. Snake frowned and looked up as though he were to scream into the sky. _Mei Ling! You tricked me! Mei Liiiiing!_

"The Randomizer has yet to be activated, nor has last week's winner chosen for the final two fighters," Samus added in.

"This is true," Master Hand said, directing himself now towards Kirby's direction. "Kirby, since you were the winner of last week's Special Brawl, you have the option of activating the Randomizer switch," Master Hand indicated the center button on the spire emerging out of the floor, "or you can select the final two brawlers yourself."

"Poyo!" Kirby cheered, leaping up. Since he didn't have a preference for anyone, he merrily skipped up to the switch through the large crowd. Snake was about to interject, but then Master Hand suddenly stopped the pink Star Warrior.

"But! First we need are the two participants chosen directly from last week to stand before us: Donkey Kong and Pikachu!"

Donkey Kong eagerly stampeded and went into position with a hefty grunt. Everyone else kept their eyes open for Pikachu to make his way to the front as well. However, around a minute had passed and someone finally spoke up what was on everyone's mind.

"Where's Pikachu?" Luigi asked aloud. Anxious murmurs dispersed within the crowd of smashers. Some were worried what might have happened to Pikachu. Others began making accusations of sabotage in order to win the wager through Pikachu's forfeit. Master Hand gave off a displeased growl.

"Everyone, please settle down," Master Hand beckoned.

"Oh, dear, I hope Pikachu is alright," Peach said.

"Pikachu will be back," Pit said firmly. "He's one brave warrior, that's for sure."

"I can certainly attest to that," Samus added in. "But still, even I still feel rather uneven about this mess."

"This scene seems pretty sketchy to me," Sonic commented, glancing particularly at the notable villains and rival characters. "Who would want to get rid of Pikachu?"

"Well, don't look at me, hedgehog," Wolf growled from Sonic's accusing look. "For your information, I actually had money put on the little mouse. Unless…" With a rumbling growl, the Star Wolf leader immediately shot a fierce glare at both Fox and Falco.

"Oh, come on!" Fox exclaimed, he and Falco looking particularly miffed.

"Have some class, why don't ya!" Falco retorted. "You think _we_ sabotaged Pikachu just so you wouldn't have some more dirty money fall into your sleazy claws?" Wolf merely leaned forward in a threatening, predatory stance while Fox and Falco held their ground.

"_I can't seem to find him, even with my aura-sensing abilities,_" Lucario announced, reopening his eyes after an attempt to seek Pikachu's aura throughout the Mansion.

"Nor can I find him via Brawl Mansion's security cameras wirelessly linked to my optical system," R.O.B. pitched in.

"Not good… Not good," Popo and Nana chanted, hopping about anxiously while stilling keeping their eyes out for the missing Mouse Pokémon.

"Snake, you seem to be in deep thought," Ike remarked, having noticed his unusually calm demeanor and focused look amidst the growing chaos.

He couldn't be farther from the true even if he tried. With his brilliant IQ of one-hundred eighty, Snake immediately devised a strategy that could possibly remedy this situation, though it would involve some sacrifices to be made on his part. He planned to get Pikachu back from Mei Ling without having to upset her. He certainly didn't want to upset her as two logical scenarios came to mind if he just snuck into her office and absconded with Pikachu on hand. She would either breakdown and cry over his betrayal or hold a vicious grudge over him for the rest of his existence. The thought of betrayal even sickened him to the core and would make him no different from his supposed father and brother.

"Hey, Snake," Falco's voice seemed to snap him back into reality. Snake looked up and looked at the Star Fox pilot in the eyes.

"What is it?"

"I just remembered that the last time I saw Pikachu, he was with you and in the arms of your girlfr—."

_*Pow*_

Almost instinctively, Snake sent a massive backhand up Falco's beak, effectively shutting him up and knocking him out at the same time. The soldier could only stand so much of the avian pilot's scathing sarcasm before taking matters into his own hands. Unfortunately, the act attracted everyone's attention.

"Hey, that's right: Pikachu was with Snake and Mei Ling last I saw them," Mario chimed in.

"Us too," Link and Zelda agreed. Soon, the majority of brawlers that did see Snake and Mei Ling shouted in agreement. Master Hand ominously hovered towards the soldier.

"Snake, do you have something to share with us?" Master Hand asked portentously. All the brawlers looked at Snake expectantly. It was time for Snake to enact his plan to fix this mess and hopefully prevent his butt falling into hotter water.

"It's like this, Master Hand," Snake began, keeping a calm composure the whole time. He knew what he was going to say that should hopefully appease the entire group and not redirect any anger at Mei Ling. "Pikachu wanted to hang out with me after finding out that my dear assistant, Mei Ling, came to visit. So then, I proposed this little spy game to… help develop his cognitive abilities."

"Sounds… interesting," Master Hand sounded amused. Murmurs erupted once more. "Go on."

"I wanted to see how well a Pokémon's mental reasoning compared to that of a regular human. However, I had certain variables needed to be satisfied, which is why I didn't use Lucario as he already has an edge with his aura abilities or any of Pokémon Trainer Red's Pokémon as they're already tame and trained. Pikachu was conveniently in my grasp."

"So you just needed a _wild_ Pokémon for your experiment?" Red asked. "You could've just waited until next week to travel to my world. I could even show you how to catch a wild Pokémon." Snake merely shrugged in response.

"Regardless, where is Pikachu now?" Master Hand intervened. Snake smirked back.

"That's for me, the 'super spy,' to find out," Snake chuckled. "Who knows where Pikachu could be at this time." The murmuring increased in intensity.

"I see… Well then, how do you intend on fixing this?"

Snake held up one finger to Master Hand.

"Postpone this Special Brawl for the coming week, and by then, I will bring back Pikachu."

"How will we know that you won't run off to save your hide?" Captain Falcon proposed. Snake glared at the F-Zero bounty hunter and before anyone could blink, the soldier held up Captain Falcon by the shirt.

"I wouldn't begin placing any doubt on me any time soon, even _with_ your Falcon Punch," Snake growled threateningly before pushing him aside. Murmurs went about feverishly.

"Very well, Snake," Master Hand announced, catching everyone's attention and halting the murmuring. "However, as first part of your punishment, you'll be the third brawler designated for the Special Brawl, but you won't receive a reward regardless on how well you brawl."

"Understood," Snake replied, nodding solemnly.

The disembodied glove then floated erect in a pose, fingers pointing straight up with the thumb across the palm.

"With the power invested in me as the manifestation of creative spirit, I, Master Hand, bound you, David, to your word on retrieving Pikachu, the one and only that has fought by our side for many years, within one week from this day that order may be maintained and restored, lest the wrath of destructive spirit, Crazy Hand, falls upon your head should you fail to uphold your pledge, so shall your game continues."

The atmosphere fell into almost deathly silence. Some susceptible brawlers shivered as though the room temperature drastically dropped. A small gust of wind blew through the room as Master Hand seemed to have momentarily glowed glue before settling down. Snake's body also glowed blue as the brawlers saw, signifying the magical contract has been signed and must be upheld if his game was to continue. Snake knew that there was no turning back; all according to plan. After that, the room continued to remain eerily silent as everyone was still in great awe of the display that took place before their eyes. That was until…

"Your name's _David_?!" Wario bellowed incredulously.

* * *

**I shared the same reaction as Wario did upon recently finding out that Solid Snake's real name was indeed David, just like his English voice actor, David Hayter. I wonder if that was all coincidental…**

**Anyway, I have to say that the main reason I looked into **_**Metal Gear Solid**_** was because of Mei Ling. What can I say? I have it bad for the Asian girls. If I had to pair Snake with someone from what I have learned so far on **_**Metal Gear Solid**_**, I would say Mei Ling, one of the few women who's been supportive and always by his side. And their current relationship isn't as rocky as the other significant girls Snake had in his life. Plus, there have been hints, even in **_**MGS4**_**, though I'm taking other people's word for it since I haven't played the games myself. Like I said, I did research and read the story.**

**Also, there isn't too many stories on the site with this pairing, so why not?**

**So here's the deal for you readers: **

**Five legit reviews or more one month after this gets posted, meaning by April 9, 2013 and I'll begin working on continuing the story as quickly as possible.**

**Less than five reviews as the deadline comes up, this remains a one-shot or I hold off in making the next part, meaning that it could even take up to a year for me to come around and update this, if I don't completely forget about it. We'll see what happens…**

**It's up to you now. I really want to know how I did for this, what you liked/disliked, and what I could possibly improve on. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, I may have been hasty with the previous declaration that five reviews before the set date would put this next part as priority, but honestly, I really wanted to hear more from what you readers think I did. Well, excluding flames and spam… Ah, well… Still, by the time this gets posted, I have received at least one review from someone voicing his or her self about their thoughts of this overall story. **

**Read on now, I'm done explaining myself for the first chapter's bottom note.**

* * *

_**Day Seven**_

The Viridian Forest was as peaceful as ever. It was dense and dark despite the dawning sun arriving over the Kanto region. The various forest Pokémon had begun to stir from their slumber if not have already been awake before the morning sun could shine. As for the nocturnal Pokémon like Hoothoot and Noctowl, they retreated into their nests to rest for the day. There was nothing out of the ordinary standing out from this placid scene of the world of Pokémon.

"_Kept you waiting, huh?_"

Spoke too soon…

Right before the Viridian City entrance into the Viridian Forest, static discharge sparkled on the ground in the shape of a human. Said human figure became visible as his camouflage was deactivated, revealing his identity to be none other than Solid Snake, legendary soldier. He stood tall, looking to the tops of the forest trees as a small flock of Pidgey flew across the sky and out of the forest.

Speaking of waiting, Snake bided his time after making his magical pact with Master Hand to return with the veteran Pikachu that fought alongside all the smashers since the beginning before the week was up. It was all part of his plan, albeit one that has taken many great risks to follow through successfully. Any other would falter is given to follow this plan, much less formulate in in their heads. However, Snake was ready and daring to go forward into his risky plan, just as he had done against his own conspiracies.

"I made it to the world of Pokémon as early as I did," Snake surmised to himself, further taking in a careful analysis of his new surroundings. "As expected, the Dimension Traveler took me to the default location for the Pokémon world, which is Pokémon Trainer Red's home: Pallet Town of the Kanto region."

Snake had done his research of the Pokémon world and retained only the important details of it, mainly involving the four native brawlers. Pikachu and Jigglypuff did not have an establish home. Lucario preferred visiting the rough Mt. Silver, which was more like training instead of an actual home, according to Red. It was also comparable to the Mt. Coronet stage in which both locations had similar functions, but the Aura Pokémon had his reasons for choosing Mt. Silver. So the sole Pokémon Trainer of the group imputed the coordinates of his home as the default setting for anyone visiting the Pokémon world if no one else had a different location on mind and set the Mt. Silver coordinates on standby.

As part of the deal with Master Hand, Snake was not allowed any help from the other brawlers. But that wasn't going to stop him, nor had it stopped him. The research he gathered with Dr. Hal Emmerich's help prior was one-hundred percent accurate. He knew what he was going to do.

"Time to catch a Pikachu," Snake muttered under his breath, slowly stalking into the Viridian Forest entrance.

Compared to the outside environment, the inner workings of the Viridian Forest were dense and dark. Much of the forest trees were bundled together, their branches blocking out much of the sunlight. That didn't matter to Snake as he was able to slither his way through using his excellent espionage skills. He was cautious enough to know how to not startle any wild Pokémon, especially when it came to the Beedrill family. Pokémon Trainer Red shared horror stories of the time he wandered around the Viridian Forest as an amateur Trainer starting out, running away from agitated Beedrill swarms that both outnumbered and overpowered his Pokémon back then.

Within the span of two hours, Snake crept past several Caterpie, a few Metapod, and a Weedle, being overly cautious with the latter lest he stirred the Beedrill into action. Pikachu were rare in the Viridian Forest, but it was one of the few known locations within the Kanto region that held wild Pikachu. Snake couldn't attain any new information from Red or Lucario due to Master Hand's restrictive pact. While he was sure there were other places where Pikachu were more frequently encountered, including outside the Kanto region, Snake was pressed for time as it is.

"Where's a Pikachu when you need one?" Snake grumbled to himself.

"Pikachu are pretty rare here, but mornings are usually the best chance to find them," a rather young voice spoke up. Snake discovered the source to be a young ten-year old boy dressed in a white tank top, blue shorts, sandals, and a notably large straw hat standing by a tree. He also wielded a large bug net.

"Thanks for the tip, kid," Snake said with a curt salute.

"No problem, but… what are you supposed to be?"

"I could ask you the same question, kid. But I'm busy and pressed for time, so run along now."

Snake immediately stalked off, leaving the Bug Catcher looking on with a perplexed expression on his face. His face soon lit up with realization, thus ran after the soldier.

"Hey! Wait, mister! We locked eyes! We have to have a Pokémon battle!"

* * *

_**One hour later**_

"Troublesome kid… troublesome Beedrill…"

Snake collapsed on the forest floor, not even bothering to activate his camouflage to blend into the grass and dirt. The Bug Catcher Trainer did not leave him alone, even when he tried to explain he had no Pokémon on him, to which the brat retaliated in questioning his method on catching a wild Pikachu if he had no Pokémon to battle and weaken one with. Not one willing to stick in pointless arguments, especially against a snot-nosed ten-year old, Snake attempted to sneak off. Unfortunately for him, the Bug Catcher became louder with his complaints of not getting to battle the soldier, which started a chain reaction that stirred a nearby Beedrill swarm into activity by having them hunt down the source of all that irritating noise.

Snake made his getaway when the Beedrill struck, but about half of the already large swarm chased after him while the Bug Catcher managed to subdue the half that were bothering him. After all, he is the type of Trainer that is an expert on Bug-type Pokémon. So that left Snake fleeing and evading from Beedrill sights, leaving him rather exhausted at the moment.

"I swear, this forest might actually pose a death to me if I don't live long enough for Master Hand to do away with," Snake panted. In a hurry, he attempted to pull out a cigarette to calm himself down. _Screw nature._

Suddenly, a berry fell right in front of his face, startling him with a metaphorical exclamation point sprouting from the top of his head. Snake growled to himself.

"Even nature can seem to read my thoughts and attempted to assassinate me with some berry. What next?"

"Pika!"

"Huh?"

Snake looked up at the tree whose branch dropped the Oran Berry. To his amazement, it was a Pikachu climbing down the trunk to fetch the fallen berry. He was exhausted from previous events in the forest, which led to his rather paranoid awareness. His first immediate observation was the Pikachu's tail, which had a small indent in its lightning-shaped tail. According to reasearch, this indicated that the Pikachu being a girl. With the female Pikachu strolling up to the Oran Berry without a care to eat, Snake relaxed with a visible smirk.

"… Pika?" the Pikachu squeaked, noticing the soldier looking down at her after taking a nibble. Her voice sounded higher-pitched than the veteran brawler Pikachu. The differences were clear as day.

"It's show time!"

* * *

**Well, Snake's encountered a Pikachu as planned. What will happen, stay tuned!**

**Though I planned to end with this chapter, I figure that it'd be easier breaking the process up. Anyway, please review. What did you like or not like of the chapter and/or overall story? I'd like to hear more feedback from you all!**


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